Francis Ford Coppola Presents: The Legend of Suriyothai
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment | Release Date: June 20, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Huge, sprawling, and utterly absorbing. Read full review
88
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Fun, fun, fun. [July/Aug 2003, p.26]
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's more interesting than it sounds. Besides the sheer spectacle, which is notable. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Though stilted and emotionally vacant at times, it's still an entertaining and absorbing experience. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
After a rough orientation, it kicks in to be a visually enthralling, viscerally rousing, politically fascinating epic of the old school that evokes the pleasures of the great spectaculars of the Hollywood past. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Not the place to go look for nuanced, deeply emotional performances. The acting is inevitably on the formal side, suitable for the pageant this film is. But don't let that dissuade you. They won't be making another film like this any time soon, and the chance to see all those elephants is not one you get every day. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
The frequently confusing story does eventually pull together; but there's still a lack of any strong emotional center, and the character gallery remains over-populated. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
This lavish and captivating production by veteran Thai director Chatri Chalerm Yukol (Salween) transports us to another world where even the film stock seems imbued with a timeless, classic quality. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Comes closer to deification than dramatization--a shame, since the film offers some powerful set pieces and jaw-dropping spectacle. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Although the story and imagery are absorbing to watch, the details of the plot are sometimes hard to follow and fully digest. But enough of it survives to make this extravagant production a delightful experience for Westerners to watch. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
What's singular is that it was funded by the current Thai royal family and directed by a royal prince, Chatrichalerm Yukol. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's the equivalent of our "Gone With the Wind," Russia's "War and Peace" or, to take a more modest example, South Korea's "Chunhyang." Sheer ambition and grandiose make the film interesting -- up to a point. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie is both stunning on the level of visual pageantry and curiously inert as cinema. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The fact that the story makes sense at all remains Coppola and his butchers' sole achievement. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Manages to build interest as it goes along, leading to a spectacular climactic battle with all those elephants. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The movie keeps you at a distance; it is visually sweeping, and the history is fascinating, but the drama is rarely stirring. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
The characters are flat creatures of duty, and the film is more a tale of the collective will of a state than of the rugged individuals behind it. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The storytelling is jerky (perhaps in part because the running time was trimmed from 185 to 142 minutes for U.S. release) and character development takes a backseat to a breathless rush through battles, assassinations and dynastic plotting. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Yukol has spread a huge canvas, gloriously costumed and photographed, but the staging and acting are often awkward and the saga is simply too dense for good drama. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Prince Chatri Chalerm Yukol's movie is lovely, large, and tedious, subscribing blindly to storybook stereotypes (this warrior is brave, this prince is noble, this consort is evil) and acted, for the most part, in a passionless monotone. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Easy on the eyes and hard on the head, Suriyothai is absolutely unaffecting where it matters most, in the heart. Read full review
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